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Continental Hometrainer Tire
By James Sharp
 For the first time since I started writing for GearReview.com, I am writing about a bicycle product that isn’t supposed to see road or dirt. In fact, it’s not supposed to leave your living room, den, basement or, in my case, garage. I’m talking about Continental’s Ultrasport Hometrainer tire.
Continental realized that trainers to bad things to tires. You can wear out a rear tire in practically no time if you are religious about your winter trainer workouts. In addition to that, most tires make quite a bit of noise, even if your trainer is on the quiet side. So, they set out to make a tire that would last multiple winters, reduce the noise of the tire rolling on the drum, and keep your regular tires in good shape for the Spring.
The Ultrasport Hometrainer features a harder rubber compound to increase tread life. The casing was beefed up to withstand smaller diameter rollers without tread separation. The tread design is intended to reduce noise.
Does it all work? The trainer that I use is really quiet, but until I used this tire, I didn’t realize that. Now the only noise is my drivetrain. Ahhhh... music to my ears. We haven’t seen any wear to the tire, in spite of heavy use. I think that Continental really met all of their goals.
Unfortunatly, they also used a folding bead -- and not just any folding bead, but a folding bead that is so hard to get on, you are likely to leave it on all winter long, taking it off only when you are ready to put the trainer away for the year. Does the weight savings in a tire that will never see real riding conditions matter? Does the additional cost of using an aramid bead over a wire bead necessary? I don’t think so. I’d like to see the price come down and the tire easier to get on and off.
Summary: If you ride rollers or other sort of trainer in the winter, the Ultrasport Hometrainer is your tire. It saves your regular tires from wear and tear and it’s much quieter. The tire is available in 700x23c (tested) and 26x1.75, so whether you ride a road bike, or mountain bike, there’s a Hometrainer tire for your bike. The tire retails between $33 and $40.
James Sharp is a contributing editor for GearReview.com; more of his ramblings and a look at upcoming reviews can be found at his blog -- Lactic Acid Threshold.
For more information, contact:
BikeMine
1639 West Sheridan Ave.
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73106
Phone: 1-800-223-3207
E-mail: req@bikemine.com
www.bikemine.com
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